Increased fisheries survey effort over the last decade by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), through its Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) and Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis (FMA) Divisions, has allowed biologists to collect voucher specimens and document the geographic distribution of marine fishes in Alaskan waters, including commercially important species as well as those more rarely encountered. A vouchering system allows for confirmation of field identifications, and access to specimens is ensured by their deposition at the University of Washington Burke Museum Fish Collection (UWFC). Herein we report the 1st Alaskan records for 10 species, the 1st Bering Sea records for 10 species, the 2nd or 3rd Alaskan records for 13 species, significant range extensions in the Bering Sea for 17 species, 9 species in the Aleutian Islands, 11 species in the Gulf of Alaska, and 8 species for which new records fill the gap in distribution across the North Pacific region. We also document specimens for 4 Alaska species previously cited in the literature without vouchers. A total of 83 species are discussed and photos are provided for 17 of the rarely encountered and poorly documented species.

The Cascade Range has generally partitioned sister species and populations into western and eastern forms, although north-south phylogeographic breaks within the Cascades have also been documented. We examined the relationships between and within 2 species of jumping mice, Zapus trinotatus (Pacific Jumping Mouse) and Z. princeps (Western Jumping Mouse), in Washington, Oregon, and southern British Columbia. From 24 localities we sampled 135 specimens and generated sequence data for 782 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and cytochrome-b. The 2 species were geographically partitioned to the east and west in concordance with the Cascades. However, in both northern Washington and southern Oregon, we found individuals with mtDNA haplotypes assigned to both species in syntopy, at the same sampling localities. Within Z. trinotatus, clades were further subdivided north and south, with a genealogical break across the Columbia River. Zapus princeps clades were also divided north and south, but with deeper divergences than within Z. trinotatus. We conclude that while the Cascade Range has contributed to the historic and contemporary partitioning of these 2 species, it does not represent an absolute barrier, as evidenced by syntopic localities.

Fish assemblages on an Eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed located in Humboldt Bay, California were studied using an epibenthic otter trawl. Sampling was conducted on a monthly basis from 1994 to 1995, and 2003 through 2006. A total of 204 tows over 51 mo yielded 16,760 individual fish representing 20 families and 43 species. The catch was dominated by a few species, with 4 species comprising 74.3% of the total number of fish collected. Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops) were the most abundant species taken, accounting for 22.5% of the total collected. Annual peaks in abundance and species richness were observed during the late spring and summer months, with smaller peaks noted in winter. Fish assemblages differed seasonally, with late spring and summer assemblages significantly different from other times of the year, due to recruitment of young-of-the-year life stages. Temporal patterns of community structure were also analyzed by decade and season, with no interaction among main effects. Seasonal and temporal patterns were analyzed using permutational multivariate analysis of variance and plotted using nonmetric multidimensional scaling. These results demonstrate the importance of Eelgrass habitats to juvenile fishes, and the value of data sets collected over various temporal scales.

In California, River Otters (Lontra canadensis) are most commonly associated with food-rich lowland aquatic habitats where they forage primarily on fish and crustaceans. Their distribution in high-elevation montane regions of the state, areas in which fish and crayfish were absent historically, is largely unknown. We compiled occurrence records of River Otters in California from elevations >1100 m, and evaluated them using evidentiary standards. Based on 126 records, we report the widespread presence of River Otters in the Klamath, southern Cascades, and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, including at elevations exceeding 3000 m. Sixty-three percent of the records met our definition as “verified”, and the remaining 37% were considered “unverified”. The distribution of observations through time and habitats in which observations were made were similar between verified and unverified records. River Otter records spanned the period from 1900 to 2010, with 50% occurring between 1991 and 2010. Ninety-three percent of the water bodies with records of River Otters contained nonnative prey (fish and crayfish). Those lacking nonnative prey all supported native prey, including amphibians and reptiles. Based on records that contained River Otter foraging observations, nonnative fishes and crayfish were represented in 89% of the total accounts, and native frogs and invertebrates were represented in 22%. It remains unclear whether River Otters occurred in California's high-elevation water bodies prior to the introduction of fish and crayfish, and additional research is needed to understand the possible influence of nonnative prey in allowing River Otters to expand their distribution in these habitats.

Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) and Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) are found along the Pacific Coast of North America. Where their breeding ranges overlap in Oregon and Washington they hybridize, producing a continuum of phenotypic variation. Whereas most colonies containing these hybrids are found on islands along the coast, several, including a large colony at Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, WA, USA, are located in the Salish Sea. In 2010, we scored the phenotypes of 81 gull pairs at the Protection Island colony using an index based on plumage melanism and bare-part coloration. We also monitored the breeding success of these pairs. Gulls from the entire range of phenotypes in the L. glaucescens-occidentalis complex bred on the colony, although most gulls appeared more like L. glaucescens. Significant assortative mating based on colorimetric phenotype occurred on the colony, but a low number of L. occidentalis-type pairs appeared primarily responsible for this trend. Although the mass of the 3rd egg in the clutch was significantly smaller for pairs with increasingly L. occidentalis-like males, we observed no significant difference in hatching success or clutch size across the range of phenotypes.